Reference no: EM133112990 , Length: word count:700

BUS8470 Sustainable Operations - Conestoga College

Overview

This project is to be completed in two stages. The first phase is to be completed over the duration of Sustainable Operations I (herein referred to as SOI) and the second phase is to be completed over the duration of Sustainable Operations II (herein referred to as SOII). Students will work in teams; however, a significant amount of individual work will be required to successfully complete the final Environmental Management System-Strategy.

Students will utilize their knowledge and skills gained in both SO courses to develop an EMStrat for a local organization. Students will develop their abilities to: 1) work as a team, 2) carry out baseline evaluations, 3) conduct benchmarking research, 4) identify recommendations and plans of action for establishing a more sustainably operating organization, 5) prepare reports, and 6) present results.

PHASE II

Preparing the EMStrat

In SOI you completed key tasks included (primarily) in the planning stage of an EMS. In SOII, we will take this information and use it to help us complete an EMS Manual as well as in-depth analysis and recommendations for several key performance indicators (KPIs). This added value is why we call this project an EMStrategy; not simply an EMS Manual!

Our class each weekwill meet as a class once. During the first half of the session we will continue to learn about managing specific KPIs and key elements of an EMS. During the second part of the session we will focus on completing the EMStrat. After a brief lesson, your team will be given time to collaborate on a specific section/aspect of the report. You may not have enough time to complete each task and will be expected to meet, as a team, outside of class time to remain on track. Additionally, please note that to maximize your productivity during class collaborative sessions, each team member is expected to attend the weekly classes, to show up prepared by completing work required by the instructor and/or teammates.

To encourage your project work remains on track, that all team members remain participative and accountable and to emulate the real world, your team will be required to submit bi-weekly status updates.

Graded Task #1: Status Updates

A daily, weekly or monthly phone call, meeting or email, status updates are an excellent way for a manager to ensure his/her charges are progressing in a desired direction.

Your Team will be responsible for completing two status update reports over the term. Specifically, as a team, you will need to complete aspects of a project milestone sub-task and to fill out the team member accountability checklist. Each status report will be graded as a team and worth 5% towards your final grade. The status reports will allow me to provide ongoing feedback regarding your report, answer any questions that you have and maintain a record of individual team members' participation/contributions. This information may be used to determine EMStrat final grades.

Sample Status Update Instructions

Deliverable: this week your team needs to update and submit the Team Contract and GANTT chartdocuments. Please submit each file separately to the Assignment Dropbox for Status Update #1, which can be found in the "Assignment Dropbox" sub-module.

Team Charter:
• Please modify your Team Charter to reflect any changes in individual roles/requirements
• Should your team elect, you may choose to enact a peer-review model into the grading process of your final report

GANTT Chart:
• Please add the new tasks and sub-tasks required to successful complete Phase II of the EMStratto your file

Team Accountability Checklist:
• Edit the form, below, so that it includes the date for each session, or time that we met. As well, fill in the names of all team member within the columns. Add or remove extra columns as required.
• As a team, determine a grade for each individual based on attendance, preparation and participation during the session.
• Rank each aspect out of a score of 3 - 3 being meets or exceeds expectations and 0 indicating that the team member was absent)

Assignment #1: Benchmarking

In SOI you completed your baselining exercise, which helped you to better understand "business-as-usual" operations at your client. You should have a basic understanding of how energy and water are consumed and how waste is generated. The next step is to create meaningful recommendations aimed to help your client better manage their KPIs. To do so, we begin with conducting benchmarking research. Benchmarking can provide us with an idea of best-practices for sustainable operations within a targeted industry or by targeting a specific cost-cutting method. Assignment #1 will require you to engage in benchmarking research. Detailed instructions for this assignment can be found in the "Assignment Instructions" learning materials folder.

Based on the results from your Team's benchmarking efforts you will create a list of industry-relevant best practices. From this list, you may identify no fewer than five best practices for each sustainability metric (KPI) to discuss with your client. It is very important to ensure your recommendations are meaningful. To this end, be sure to customize your recommendations and to, if necessary, to go beyond the list generated by benchmarking should your list fail to provide the types of recommendations your client may benefit from.

Assignment #2: Recommendations

Typically, at this point in the project you would be encouraged to reach out to the client to schedule a meeting to discuss your results. This would allow you to gauge interest and suitability of your recommendations prior to take the next steps. Given the current circumstances, we will not meet with the client. Please demonstrate your best judgement to select suitable recommendations for each KPI based on the methods described in class. This means meeting your client where they are at and speaking their (financial) language... by this point in the program you have heard and have likely had firsthand experience that confirms how important this is! For each recommendation (4 - 5 for each KPI/metric) you are responsible for providing detailed economic viability analysis. Specifically, you will need to research the costs and benefits associated with the recommendation and to calculate a simple ROI and payback. We will practice this process during class together. Within your final report, your detailed analysis should be included within the appendices section. You may choose to provide a summary of each recommendation within your report within a box, a chart or as an infographic.

Report and Presentation:
Based on the work completed above and the findings detailed within your interim report, your group is responsible for creating and submitting a final report. Your report should include the following components: (FYI - please note that all sections in black are required for an EMS while the section in red indicate the strategic piece, i.e.direction regarding the KPIs). Again, we will work on developing each section during our weekly classes.

CONTENTS
1 ISO14001 Purpose and Scope
1.1 Company profile
1.2 Purpose of the EMS Manual
1.3 Scope of the EMS

2 Normative References

3 Terms & Definitions
3.1 Organization and leadership
3.2 Planning
3.3 Support or operations
3.4 Performance evaluation and improvement

4 Context of the Organization
4.1 Understanding the organization and its context
4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties
4.3 Determine the scope of the EMS
4.4 Environmental management system

5 Leadership
5.1 Leadership and commitment
5.2 Environmental policy
5.3 Organizational roles, responsibilities and authorities

6 Planning
6.1 Actions to Address Risks and Opportunities
6.1.1 General: risks & opportunities to be addressed
6.1.2 Environmental aspects
6.1.3 Compliance obligations
6.2 Environmental Objectives and Planning to achieve them
6.3 Key Performance Indicators
6.3.1 Energy
6.3.1.1 The business case for action
6.3.1.2 Baseline results
6.3.1.3 Recommendations
6.3.2 Waste
6.3.2.1 The business case for action
6.3.2.2 Baseline results
6.3.2.3 Recommendations
6.3.3 Water
6.3.3.1 The business case for action
6.3.3.2 Baseline results
6.3.3.3 Recommendations

7 Support
7.1 Resources
7.2 Competence
7.3 Awareness
7.4 Communication
7.5 Documented Information

8 Operations
8.1 Operational Planning and Control
8.2 Emergency Preparedness and Control

9 Performance Evaluation
9.1 Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
9.1.1 General
9.1.2 Evaluation of compliance
9.2 Internal audit
9.3 Management Review

10 Improvement
10.1 General
10.2 Non-conformity and Corrective Action
10.2.1 Results of corrective actions
10.3 Continual improvement

11 Appendices

Note: Need only marked part

Attachment:- Sustainable Operations.rar